The Batesville Daily Guard

Published Wednesday January 25, 2006

Gann said he was dispatched at about 2 p.m. to the school counselor’s office to meet with school nurse Sandra Coe and the student.

The student told Gann that he took some prescription pills around 12:30 p.m. while in school and later took his pocketknife and cut his left wrist.

“Paramedics who arrived at the scene examined his wrist and advised that the injury to his wrist was not serious and was not life-threatening,” Gann said. He said when he asked the teen why he took the pills and why he attempted to cut his wrist, the boy became very angry and started yelling. LifeCare Ambulance transported the teen to White River Medical Center’s emergency room without further delay, he said.

His mother was notified and told school authorities she would go to the emergency room to be present when the ambulance arrived with her son.

Gann said the youth apparently took four prescription anti-depressants and two prescription sleeping pills of an unknown brand.

The youth is expected to recover.

Gann said the same youth tried to commit suicide on Jan. 5. “On that occasion he wrote a suicide note on his body (with ink) and took an undetermined amount of some type of prescription pills,” Gann said.

School officials gave Gann the knife that had been taken from the teen. Gann said the knife was confiscated and taken to the Cave City Police Department.